13 Facts About Wendy Craig

Wendy Craig played the role of Matron in the TV series The Royal.

Anne Gwendolyn Wendy Craig was born on 20 June 1934 in Sacriston, County Durham, the daughter of farmer George Wendy Craig and his wife Anne.

Wendy Craig attended Durham High School for Girls, initially as a day pupil and later as a boarder, which she revisited in October 2007 to open a new building that had been named after her.

Wendy Craig passed the 11+ examination and went to Darlington High School.

Wendy Craig trained as an actress at the Central School of Speech and Drama, then based in the Royal Albert Hall, London.

Wendy Craig went from the BBC's Not in Front of the Children to ITV's.

Wendy Craig appeared as Reggie's mother in the BBC One comedy Reggie Perrin, an update of the 1970s' series The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin.

In 2012 Wendy Craig appeared as a guest in an episode of the cookery series MasterChef, along with many other 1970s sitcom stars.

In 2016, Wendy Craig appeared as Mary Goodman in the BBC detective series Death in Paradise.

Wendy Craig was married to Jack Bentley, a trombonist, scriptwriter and journalist, from 1955 until his death in 1994.

In 2004, having heard that the secret was out, Wendy Craig visited Mortimer to reveal formally that their affair had resulted in a son, then 42.

Wendy Craig was at the time of the leak appearing in an episode of Midsomer Murders; series star John Nettles later said one of his favourite memories of the series was picking up a copy of The Daily Telegraph on set during that filming with a headline revealing the secret, remarking that "It just seemed so absolutely Midsomer".

Wendy Craig was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2020 New Year Honours for services to drama and charity.